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Side-stepping NEET issues

ByHT Editorial
Jan 17, 2025 08:33 PM IST

A country that needs many more doctors than it has can’t let the sanctity of the medical entrance exam come under a cloud.

After the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test-Undergraduate (NEET-UG) fiasco last year, reforms recommended by a government-constituted expert panel offered redemption to the National Testing Agency (NTA). NTA’s ability to conduct the test in a manner that engendered trust in the process had come under question last year. Allegations of question paper leaks, arbitrary awarding of grace marks, and inflated marking eroded stakeholders’ trust in the exam process, as did NTA’s response to the issues. First, the agency tied itself in knots trying to explain away the various discrepancies flagged in marking, and when none of this sailed, it had to take the retest route for a select number of candidates. Then, even as it flatly denied any leaks, probe agencies uncovered paper-leak/solving rackets that spanned multiple states.

Srinagar: Medical students from Government Medical College (GMC) Srinagar, holding placards take part in a silent protest against the reduction of Open Merit (OM) seats in postgraduate admissions under the NEET PG framework, in Srinagar, Monday, Dec. 9, 2024. (PTI Photo) (PTI) PREMIUM
Srinagar: Medical students from Government Medical College (GMC) Srinagar, holding placards take part in a silent protest against the reduction of Open Merit (OM) seats in postgraduate admissions under the NEET PG framework, in Srinagar, Monday, Dec. 9, 2024. (PTI Photo) (PTI)

Against this backdrop, NTA choosing to sidestep a key recommendation of the expert panel, to shift the NEET-UG to the online mode and instead continuing with the pen-and-paper mode, is baffling.

The panel headed by former Isro chief K Radhakrishnan had called for making the test a “multi-stage” one, with thresholds and test objectives of scoring or ranking at each stage. It also recommended holding the test in multiple sessions, over a couple of weeks, with transparent normalisation. Shifting the exam online, and staggering it into multiple stages and sessions, would have eliminated any prospect of leaks and made the testing less unwieldy — the 2024 edition saw 2.4 million aspirants appear for the test on a single day, with question papers sent to hundreds of centres across the country, increasing vulnerability to leaks.

NTA hasn’t explained its decision to conduct the 2025 edition in the offline mode, except for mentioning that the National Medical Commission, the country’s medical education and practice regulator, wanted it this way. Given how the move has stirred unease among aspirants — over leak rackets getting activated again and scuppering chances of genuine candidates — such abdication of responsibility is problematic. There not being enough time for aspirants to become familiar with a new testing pattern before the exam — a reason proffered by a senior education ministry official — doesn’t justify postponing the shift to online testing. One batch of aspirants, no matter when the shift happens, will be the pilot pool and will face the same unfamiliarity about which there are apprehensions at present. Questions relating to aspirants’ access, especially in rural areas, though merit attention as does the shortage of infrastructure to roll out an online NEET-UG. The expert panel recommended at least one online testing centre in each district, and setting these up would need an assessment of the availability and adequacy of infrastructure — physical and digital — as well as of personnel. But these challenges are surmountable.

A country that needs many more doctors than it has can’t let the sanctity of the medical entrance exam come under a cloud. While NTA needs to urgently implement the recommendations of the Radhakrishnan panel, the need is also to expand the pool of medical seats in the country.

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